Quebec’s
Secondary III &
IV History
Curriculum:
In Need of Change

A
statement
calling for a
more inclusive
and truthful
History of
Quebec and
Canada
Curriculum
for Secondary
III and IV

In the Spring of
2016 Quebec's
Liberal
Government
announced it
would be
implementing a
reform to the
province's
Secondary III
and IV History
curriculum that
had been
initiated by the
previous PQ
Government.
Ostensibly this
reform was
intended to
address what was
widely
recognized as a
structural
problem with the
program that
many felt was
causing undue
confusion for
students: namely
the thematic
rather than
chronological
approach of the
current
Secondary IV
program.
However, thanks
to lobbying
efforts of La
Coalition pour
l’histoire –
an organization
founded and
financed by some
of the most
conservative
elements of
Quebec’s
nationalist
movement – this
reform came to
be about far
more than
changes to the
program’s
structure. It
became about
changing the
content of the
course to
reflect the
narrow
ideological
views of La
Coalition pour
l’histoire
and its
supporters.

What We Are
Asking For

First and foremost, we want a curriculum whose content acknowledges the complexity and diversity of Quebec society and challenges students to develop critical thinking skills in examining historical events. A curriculum that seeks to indoctrinate students with a simplistic ideologically driven narrative is an insult to the intelligence of students and a disservice to society as a whole. To be clear, we are not asking to replace one narrow ideological vision of history with another. This is not about replacing a sovereignist narrative with a federalist one or a conservative narrative with a liberal one. Conservative nationalist perspectives have a place in the telling of Quebec’s history. But they, like other important currents of thought, should be presented as that, perspectives, not the defining narrative.

We want a curriculum that addresses Indigenous History as noted in items 62, 63 and 64 of the Calls to Action made by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). The current reform has ignored these recommendations. We also want a curriculum that reflects the current scholarship on Indigenous history which reveals the active role of Indigenous people in shaping North American history in every historical period, rather than portraying them merely as hapless and passive victims of colonization. Achieving these goals will require extensive consultation with Indigenous communities and scholars at every step of the curriculum development process.

We want a curriculum that acknowledges the struggles and positive contributions of Quebec’s various ethnic minority and local communities. Students need to learn about the over 4,000 Black and Indigenous people enslaved in Quebec during the French regime, about the struggles against discrimination faced by Jewish, Italian and Greek immigrants during the early waves of immigration, about the more recent efforts to welcome refugees fleeing war and oppression in places like Vietnam, Lebanon, Chile, Haiti or Syria. The history of Quebec’s Black community also needs to be integrated into the curriculum rather than leaving it to be taught at the discretion of individual teachers. The current curriculum has completely omitted the historical contributions of its minority communities. No community that has contributed to the development of Quebec society should be rendered invisible or demonized.

We want a curriculum that acknowledges the diversity of Quebec’s Anglophone community and its positive contributions to Quebec society. Students need to know that the majority of Quebec Anglophones were not elites living in the Golden Square Mile. Many were working class Irish who suffered untold indignities at the hands of the British merchant class. Some, as in the 1837 rebellions, even worked hand in hand with Francophones resisting British authority. Still others, such as the Anglophone women who participated in the beginnings of Quebec’s feminist movement made significant positive contributions to making Quebec a more egalitarian society. The current curriculum reduces Quebec’s Anglophone community to a monolithic block of elites intent on impeding the society’s progress at every turn.

We want a curriculum that acknowledges the important developments in Quebec’s history that have been motivated by progressive political values. Students need to learn about the Parent Report, the resistance to Duplessis led by individuals like Georges-Henri Levesque and institutions like the Cité Libre journal and the inclusive nationalism of Réné Levesque. The current curriculum omits this progressive history and instead offers a very conservative vision of Quebec’s history where, for example, even widely reviled figures like Maurice Duplessis are recast as defenders of Quebec’s autonomy.

What We Are Not
Asking For

In order for the
aim of this
statement to be
100% clear and
transparent we
will outline
some things that
we are not
asking for, so
as to avoid any
confusion.

We are not asking for the ‘denationalization’ of the program. References to the Quebec nation and various forms of national consciousness existed in the program prior to this reform and should continue to do so.

We are not asking for the program’s focus to be anything other than Quebec’s Francophone majority. To say that we want a program that is inclusive of ethnic minorities and Indigenous communities does not mean that we want them to be given equal weight to the Francophone majority.

In suggesting that the diversity and positive contributions of the Anglophone community be acknowledged, we are not in any way suggesting that the various negative actions of the British Regime and the English merchant class should be omitted or minimized.

What We Are
Asking of The
Government of
Quebec

We are asking The Government of Quebec to work with school boards and key stakeholders to immediately produce supplemental pedagogical materials. These would address the most glaring omissions in the new curriculum. The Precisions of Learning curriculum document and Ministry exams would need to be updated to include this material.

This would be a stop-gap measure until a process of public consultations could be held that would allow Quebec’s various communities to offer their input. The aim of this consultation would be to develop a new inclusive History curriculum with new textbooks and pedagogical resources for teachers.

This statement
was initiated by
the Committee
for the
Enhancement of
the
Curriculum of
History in
Quebec (ComECH-Quebec),
an ad hoc
committee
created by the
English Parents’
Committee
Association
(EPCA), Quebec
Anglophone
Heritage Network
(QAHN) and the
Quebec
Federation of
Home and School
Associations
(QFHSA).

The Quebec Federation of Home & School Associations Inc. (QFHSA) is a
federation of local Home and School Associations driven by one objective: to
provide a caring and enriched educational experience for students. Members of
Home and School Associations come from all sectors of society: working parents,
stay-at-home parents, grandparents, educational professionals, and other
ordinary citizens with an interest in maintaining a high level of education in
this province. Their children attend schools that can be found in every corner
of the province of Quebec and represent the cultural diversity within the
minority English-language school system. Our members pay a modest annual fee to
be part of the QFHSA and we currently represent 80+ school communities from all
across the province who share our goals and objectives.

The QFHSA, which was founded in 1944, has built a solid reputation helping to
recruit and train parent volunteers in schools, working to enhance the education
and well being of children across Quebec.

As an independent, incorporated, non-legislated and not-for-profit volunteer
organization, QFHSA also provides leadership in developing and coordinating
programs, activities and services for quality parental involvement in the home,
the school and the community.

May 2015

QFHSA was proud to play a role in the
promotion of this wonderful event and even
prouder of the contributions from the Gaspe and
New Carlisle Elementary school students, (both
with Home and School Associations).

All the children had a wonderful experience
and the finished product is such a joy to view
and hear.

QFHSA will be supporting this project again
next year, in partnership with
Canadian Parents for French, and
will be asking more of our Home and School
Associations to consider helping to bring this
project to their school. For more information,
contact the office.

Please click on above image to visit the CPF
website

Mission

The
Quebec Federation of Home & School Associations (QFHSA)
is an independent, incorporated not-for-profit volunteer organization
dedicated to enhancing the education and general well-being of children and
youth.

The Quebec Federation of Home and School Associations promotes the
involvement of parents, students, educators and the community at large in
the advancement of learning and acts as a voice for parents.